Dam



May 2, 193". E. H. BURROUGHS DAM Filed May 23, 1930 ATTORNE 5.

to permit the fill to extend around the end Patented May 2, 1933 UN ITEDSTATES EDGAR H. nurmouons, or. SGABSDALE, NEW YORK; AssmNongro AMBURsEN'coN- STRUCTION COMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,*'A ooRroRATIoN on NEWYORK DAM

Application filed May 23,

This inventionrelates to a novel and improved form of dam, the novelfeatures of which will be best understood fromthe following descriptionand the annexed drawlng, in which I have shown a selected embodiment ofthe invention, and in which i V Fig. 1 is a view showing a damconstructed according to my invention, and taken on the line 11 of Fig.2;

Fig. 2 is a view on theiline 2.2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view on the line3-3 of Fig. 2.

My invention is shown and has particular utility in connection with adam of the type in which an upstream inclined water bearing deck 3 is,supported by a plurality of buttresses l beneath the deck and extendingdownstream therefrom. Under certain conditions, as where the dam extendsacross a valley and where the adjacent hillside has faults, it has beenknown to stop the masonry structure before the surface of the hillsideis reached and to form and extension of the dam in the shape of a fill,as of rock, disposed substantially in line with the masonry dam. In suchconstruction, it has been customary buttress and between the buttresses,it being assumed that this fill will counteract to a large extent thethrust of the body of the fill against the masonry of the dam. Therelative thrusts, however, are uncertain in quantity.

According to this invention, however, it is possible to avoid the aboveuncertainty, and this is done by sodesigning the end buttress that itwill be capable of taking the entire lateral thrust from the embankmentand of preventing this thrust from being transmitted to the rest of thestructure. This is done by projecting or extending this end buttressinto the embankment an amount sufficient to give it stability on allplanes.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, I have shown a construction such as just mentionedabove. The

end buttress 6, as seen inFig. 2, closely fol Q lows theoutline of otherbuttresses and of the adjacent portion of the dam, but is designed forindependent stability under the forces acting on it, as seen in Figs, 1and 3. Then, behind the buttress 6 I place the embankment 2, preferablymade of rock fill.

1980. SeriaLKo. 454,873.

Thisfill'may extend from this buttress up the hillside with its top 7substantially level with 'the'top 8 of'the dam.. The upstream face 9and, if'desired, the down-stream face 10 of this fill may be providedwith facings of concrete to make the fill substantially watertight. Thefill down-stream of the dam is supported on a slab 11 closing thedownstream face of the dam to prevent the fill material of the fill.

The distribution of lateral thrust on the end buttress is exemplified inFig. 3, by the trapezoid G. While the dimensions of this end buttress asherein described are appreciably greater than the ordinary adjacentbuttresses at the point of maximum height illustrated by Fig. 1, theywill be much smaller in proportion for the lower heights of buttresssuch as shown by Fig. 3. This is because advantage may be taken of theweight of fill on both sides of the buttress to overcome the overturningmoment caused by forces due to lateral thrust as illustrated by DiagramC, while in constructions known to the prior art, the weight acting tothe left of the end buttress will not aid it to resist overturning.

While I have shown the invention as embodied in a specific form, it isto be under stood that variouschanges in details may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, and I therefore do not intendto limit myself except by the appended claim.

I claim:

In combination, a dam comprising an inclined upstream water bearingdeck, a plurality of supports beneath said deck and extending downstreamtherefrom, a fill dis-' 1 posed at one end of the dam and forming acontinuation of the dam for a substantial distance, an end support forsaid deck adj acent, said fill and having an upstream and downstreamprofile substantially the same as that of the adjacent portion of thedam, said end support retaining said fill and increasing in thicknessfrom its top to its bottom and being projected into said fill a distancesuf- 5 ficient to insure stability thereof against thrust of the fill onall planes and against thrust from said deck, and means closing thedown-stream face of the dam to prevent the fill from extending betweensupports.

1 EDGAR HFBURROUGHS.

